In 1965 church services began to be held on a monthly and then on a twice-monthly basis, with a building erected on the purchased site of the community’s former school. Sunday School teachers and ministers continued to visit and serve on a regular basis.

In 1977, David Friesen began serving as Anola Fellowship Chapel’s pastor and in 1979 the congregation was granted autonomy with nine charter members. Friesen served until 1985. Several pastors then served on an interim basis: Frank D. Reimer (1986), Harry Neufeld (1986-87), and John K. Reimer (1987-88). In 1988 John (Jack) and Brenda Cosens began serving as Anola’s resident pastoral couple (with a break of two years). Cosens was a bivocational minister-carpenter.

In 1985 there were 25 members; in 1995, 30; in 2012, 44. The 2012 yearbook states that the average attendance was 66, though one leader said in 2013 that the average attendance, apart from the summer months, was about 100. The congregation’s highest attendance has been about 120.

Anola Fellowship Chapel intentionally serves as a community evangelical church, reaching out to people of a wide range of church and cultural backgrounds. The congregation’s building has gone through renovation and extension, most recently in 2000.

Bibliography

Evangelical Mennonite Conference Yearbook for 2012 (including a record of the proceedings of the 62nd annual sessions of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference July 6-8, 2012). Steinbach: Evangelical Mennonite Conference, 2012.